Mark Grantham, 1966 | Abstract painter

Mark Grantham was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he continues to reside.

He has been painting full-time since 1996.

He grew up on Leeds Street in the city's north end, and completed his first oil on canvas at age 11.

After receiving Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees from Dalhousie University, Grantham went on to study architecture at the Technical University of Nova Scotia, from where he holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies degree as well as a Masters degree in Architecture.

Nicolaas van der Waay | Genre painter

Nicolaas van der Waay (1855-1936) was a Dutch decorative artist, watercolorist and lithographer.

He worked in many genres, including stamp, coin and banknote designs.

He is perhaps best known for the allegorical illustrations he created for the Golden Coach and a series of paintings depicting the lives of girls from the Amsterdam Orphanage.

His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Coba Ritsema | The Amsterdamse Joffers group

Jacoba Johanna (Coba) Ritsema (26 June 1876, Haarlem - 13 December 1961, Amsterdam), was a portrait painter from the Netherlands.

Together with eight other artist friends, she founded an artists' association, which was introduced by the art critic Albert Plasschaert as the Amsterdam Joffers. The group of female artists contributed significantly to the acceptance of women in art at that time.

Jacoba, or Coba, was born in 1876 as the daughter of the book printer Coenraad Ritsema and his wife Jeanette (Jannetje) Moulijn in an artistic family with one sister and two brothers.

Gioacchino Toma | Genre painter

Gioacchino Toma (24 January 1836 - 12 January 1891) was an Italian art instructor and painter, noted primarily for historic, realistic and genre subjects in a Romantic style.

Toward the end of his life, Toma authored his autobiography, Memories of an Orphan (Ricordi di un Orfano, Giannini and Figli, 1886) relating a series of memories to his son, Gustavo: his difficult childhood; his tenacity; his desire for redemption; and his civil and political commitment.

Arthur Claude Strachan | British Cottages

Predominantly a landscape and cottage painter in watercolour, Arthur Claude Strachan (1865-1935) was born in Edinburgh on 15th March 1865, the son of George Strachan, an architect, and his wife, Mary (née Dalrymple).

He studied art in Liverpool and later travelled throughout the UK painting the country landscapes.

Between 1885-1929 he exhibited in London and in the provinces and also showed four works at the Royal Academy.

The whole Strachan family moved to Liverpool some time in the 1880s.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning | Come ti amo? / How Do I Love Thee?

Come ti amo? Lascia che conti tutti i modi.

Ti amo con la profondità, la vastità, l'altezza

che l'anima mia raggiunge quando smarrita tocca i confini

dell'essere e della grazia ideale.

Harriet Hosmer | Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning | Harvard University, Cambridge

Gabriel von Max | Romantic / Symbolist painter

Gabriel Cornelius Ritter von Max (23 August 1840 – 24 November 1915) was a Prague-born Austrian painter.

He was born Gabriel Cornelius Max, the son of the sculptor Josef Max and Anna Schumann.

He studied between 1855 and 1858 at the Prague Academy of Arts with Eduard von Engerth.

His studies included parapsychology (somnambulism, hypnotism, spiritism), Darwinism, Asiatic philosophy, the ideas of Schopenhauer, and various mystical traditions.

The spiritual-mystical movement was emphasized by the writings of Carl du Prel, and the Munich painter Albert Keller was also an influence.

Thérèse Schwartze | Self-portrait, 1888 | Uffizi Gallery

The artist presents herself by citing a well-known precedent: Sir Joshua Reynolds, who in his youthful self-portrait of 1749 portrays himself while making a screen with one hand over his eyes and holding the tools of his trade in the other.

After an initial apprenticeship with his father, Thérèse studied at the Rijksakademie, in Munich and in Paris.

Returning to Amsterdam she opened a very active studio, receiving important commissions and awards.